Imagination

The other day I went to the local medical lab to have some blood drawn to check my thyroid levels. I entered the building and signed-in at the receptionist window. Sitting behind the window was a young man, maybe twenty years old. I sat down in the waiting room to wait to be called back. A young woman entered the receptionist area from the back room. The two of them bantered in conversation, just flitting above the line of flirting.

The young man mentioned to the young woman that he was reading a novel. She replied that she didn't really like reading because it was so hard to use her imagination to paint in her mind the author's scene. He responded with something about how that is what he liked about reading, is the ability to use his imagination.

"I feel sorry for you, then." the young lady commented.

"Feel sorry for me!? For using my imagination?" he asked bewildered.

"Yeah," she answered back. "I just don't see the use for imagination. I feel sorry for those people who have to rely on it."

"I feel sorry for those who don't use their imaginations." the young man retorted, clearly aghast that somebody would look down on someone else because they had and used their imaginations. To a certain degree, his spirit had been crushed by her dismal of his ideas. While he and she continued their verbal jousting, the electricity of the flirting was gone from his voice.

He asked me to go on back to the back room and he took my blood. As I was getting up to leave, he said, "Mr. Bowman, can I ask you a question?" I said, "sure."

Like a little boy seeking affirmation, he said, "Do you feel sorry for somebody with an imagination or without?"

"I feel much more sorry for somebody without imagination. They will never be able to rise above what they have been trained to do. They will never be leaders, because leadership is about vision. The vision to look beyond what is here and now and to see what can be. That requires an imagination. People without imaginations can not innovate or solve problems, they are nothing more than trained circus animals, repeating the tricks they have been taught by those with the imagination. I feel very, very sorry for them."

The fire in his eyes reignited as he exclaimed, "That's it exactly!"

As I left the building, I walked past the open window of the receptionist desk where the young lady sat, waiting for the next patient to come through the door. As I passed through the doors, I heard the young man re-enter the reception area and re-engage his colleague in a philosophical debated by stating, "He has a great theory about imagination."

It is at times like this I wish I were a small business owner. If I were I would have walked right back in and offered that kid a job. He may only be trained to be a phlebotomist right now, but he is a person I would feel confident investing in. Here is a young man, obviously raised in the poor part of town. He has risen above his obstacles and the anti-achievement mentality of the culture in which he was raised. He took the one year course to get a skill. He has acquired a job. His positive attitude and his willingness to fight for his beliefs and not be quieted by a woman he is flirting with speaks highly of his character. While I would not be able to hire him to draw blood, he has an inborn skill worth more than that which he was trained to do. He is a leader.